New Delhi, March 21 -- The Enforcement Directorate (ED), in one of its largest single attachment orders, has attached assets worth Rs.5,046 crore in connection with its money laundering probe against PACL (Pearl Agro Corporation Ltd), which is being investigated in a Rs.48,000 crore Ponzi scheme, the agency said on Friday. Pearls group was run by Nirmal Singh Bhangoo, who was arrested in 2016. He died in August 2024 in Delhi. The federal agency said in a statement on Friday that it has attached "126 immovable properties valued at Rs.5,046.91 crore in Punjab and Delhi under the prevention of money laundering act (PMLA) in connection with its ongoing investigation into a large-scale financial fraud involving a collective investment scheme operated by PACL Ltd. and related entities". ED's probe in the matter is based on a 2014 case registered by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). It has been found that Pearls group and its entities operated a massive illegal collective investment scheme, fraudulently mobilizing over Rs.48,000 crore from lakhs of investors across India under the pretext of sale and development of agricultural land. "Investors were induced to invest under cash downpayment and installment payment plans, and were made to sign misleading documents such as agreements, powers of attorney and other instruments. In most cases, land was never delivered, and approximately Rs.48,000 crore remains unpaid to investors. The scheme involved use of multiple front entities and reverse sale transactions to conceal the fraud and generate wrongful gains," ED said. The Supreme Court had, in 2016, directed Securities and Exchange Board of India to constitute a committee under the chairmanship of former Chief Justice of India, Justice RM Lodha, to dispose of the land purchased by PACL and to distribute the sale proceeds to the investors. However, investigations revealed continued illegal dissipation of PACL assets, leading to registration of three additional FIRs by the Punjab Vigilance Bureau, Jawahar Circle police station, Jaipur, and Attibele police station, Bengaluru for illegal sale, encroachment, and misuse of land acquired using investor funds....